Focusing their efforts on closing the gap between men and women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) careers, Tiffani Johnson established and developed the program STEM Gals and recruited Serena Ang. Their interest in pursuing STEM careers along with observations of the deficiency of women in STEM sparked their desire to create a campaign focused on exposing and engaging girls in STEM. Our team accomplished this through outreach initiatives, hands-on activities, guest speakers, and fundraisers. STEM Gals primarily reaches out to girls from kindergarten to eighth grade in the Silicon Valley. We have newly developed curriculum for high school students in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Our team chose to start this program because of our great interest in pursuing careers in STEM, as well as the pervasive problem that demonstrates that the female and minority population is historically underrepresented in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics through countless statistics. Furthermore, our team has a great interest in exploring and developing various ways to increase diversity within STEM fields, sparking a new interest in girls' lives, and showing that women are just as capable of achieving success in STEM careers. According to Forbes statistics, only 14% of girls are interested in becoming scientists. In the fourth grade, 66% of girls report that they have an interest in math and science, yet only 18% of college engineering majors are females. Women and men are equally capable of performing STEM work, and women prove to be just as intelligent as men; the fact is that men and women scored equivalently on tests of raw IQ, with some studies showing women scoring slightly higher. Thus, women have the capacity to accomplish just as much as, or even more than, males. Our team consists of female leaders who are involved in STEM activities and internships, such as Stanford Institutes of Medical Research, Future Surgeons of America, and the International Space Station. Our team desires to share our STEM-based knowledge and abilities with others by increasing expansion and awareness of this issue. Forbes STEM statistics states, when girls are shown what engineers do, "seventy-six percent of girls get interested in engineering." Our team has exposed hundreds of underrepresented and underserved females to STEM professions and have observed that students who attended our interactive presentations have been influenced to pursue mathematics and science.
Serena Ang wants to pursue engineering and run her own tech company in the near future. She is part of a multitude of STEM programs and wants to share her passions with young girls. Tiffani Johnson has a great passion for medicine and is aspiring to become a surgeon. She desires to increase the number of female and minority physicians, as well as future leaders of STEM. Tiffani has observed instances where members of her community are not exposed to STEM-related careers, and her life experiences taught her the importance of being an advocate for underrepresented, female students. Tiffani Johnson is Attending Stanford University School of Medicine where she will pursue her medical degree.
Sponsors
A special thank you to our family sponsors & donors: Watson Family Thomas Family Segers Family Lawson Family